President Barack Obama, Student Loans, And The Need For Reform

Share This:

2016 is fast approaching, and that means election season. Major news networks will stalk and highlight candidates from left and right sides of the aisle. In this highly televised and recorded world, nearly everything will be analyzed and critiqued – moment-by-moment. The primaries will be a grueling process where candidates likely undercut their opponents and new ideals.

One of the biggest reasons for our trouble is student loan debt. In fact, it eclipses all other forms from credit cards to cars to mortgages. America is addicted to debt, but the favorite kind seems to center on youth pursuing educations. Unfortunately, this policy of placing higher cost burden on students has led to numerous unintended consequences. Graduates are suffering, despite being raised to believe that college was a simple path to prosperity.

There are few reasons for hope. Congress is a house divided. They’re split on nearly everything, and funding education via taxation isn’t on the table. This instability and counterproductive snowball-lobbing Congress cripples younger generations.

Thankfully, there’s a light amidst this partisan dueling: President Barack Obama. He recently sat down with a few high school and college students to talk about issues in education and student loans. The President acknowledged that he only paid off his own student loans in full the year before he entered congress, and that they were more than his home mortgage.

Instantaneously, the sometimes-deified leader of “the free world” became real. The students that filled the room nodded in unison and seemed appreciative. The President leaned in, and questioned the group about their own experiences.

He asked one student what she wished she would’ve known or something that was difficult about the process. She responded that student loan interest was mentioned, but not entirely explained. And she’s not alone. Most college students don’t have a firm grasp of what student loans can do. The President kindly responded that institutions tend to just hand the bill at the end of college.

This was a man who aimed to talk with students around this country – not just in that room. And no matter how planned, prepared, staged, and for-show this event was, it highlighted something rare and powerful in politics: approachability.

This administration and President must’ve known that this segment for Vice News would provide positive sentiment for the White House. But that shouldn’t matter, because this is how that office chose to connect – in a radically different way than every office before it. Regardless of the calculated nature of the time with these students, it made an impressive impact.

In a political world that could not be more hostile and aggressive, we need politicians that sit down with younger generations and empathize with the struggle in higher education. There’s hope for a better future if more do so.

Come 2016, I want to see a candidate who can sit down with younger generations and truly lean in. I want a future president who’s approachable for diverse – socioeconomically disenfranchised – people.

President Barack Obama and his staff have mastered this element, and I look forward to someone who can do even better. We need action and reform to solve the student loan crisis.

Related

Comments

I do not like Obama, but I guess he’s is asking the right questions about student loans. I too was raised that I must go to college to get a real job and never had any one explain the real cost. Now 20 yrs later I am paying for it. Better questions I want to see addressed are how can we stop price gouging at colleges and why is the govt making so much in interest off of students?

Thanks for your comment. Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts about student loans, even if you don’t care for President Obama.

Your suggestion is one I completely agree with. The United States and current administration removed private corporations from the mix of federal loans; essentially, removing a profit-taking middleman. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, the federal government is making money off of students — and probably shouldn’t be.

The tough part is on the budget. As I understand it, Congress has already allocated those profits for programs elsewhere — they count on those profits to fund other projects. In removing profits from this system, we would also need to consider the programs that benefit from those monies.

It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this. I know they have tried to push refinancing government student loans through the Senate a few times with no luck, and I believe they are trying again. The Student Aid Bill of Rights seems like a step in the right direction to making things smoother, and it does put the issue out into the open which is always a good idea.

But sometimes I feel like it’s just a lot of pandering, and it needs to be more of put your money where your mouth is. Sallie Mae/Navient stole millions from service members. They paid a small penalty and then their contract was renewed anyways. They were given even more money because our government felt that would make things go smoother and the extra money would be incentive for them to perform better…

It still blows my mind that kids are only 17 or 18 years old when they take on the responsibility of tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt. There should be a course that goes hand in hand with the loan application process so kids truly have an understanding of what they’re singing on for- might prompt some to chose the more affordable alternative.

Gosh I hate election years. The news casts are all about that and nothing else for at least a year before election day. Plus I just tired of the slamming and all the radio and TV commercials are all about the election too. Give it a rest! I do vote and I do research first, but gosh being all election all the time can get really annoying.